YGTBFKM-The State benches Ron Morris

Well, refusing to have a presser with Ron Morris in the room to The State straight up moving Morris off the beat is a very slippery slope for a newspaper to go down. On one hand, I get it. South Carolina football is Tammany Hall and Steve Spurrier is Boss Tweed. On the other, Spurrier won't be there forever, nor will South Carolina football. 

Is trading any pretense of journalistic integrity for favor with the football program worth it in the long run? Does it matter that the other beat reporters are flabbergasted?

Morris declined to talk to me, but others familiar with the situation — including former University of South Carolina and State staffers — described how The State’s publisher, Henry Haitz III, made his veteran columnist agree in writing that he would never again write about Gamecocks football or talk about the USC program on TV and radio shows.

“It was a journalism restraining order,” said one of Morris’s ex-colleagues.

Don't look for The State to do too much digging into any tips they get about 1) The Whitney Hotel, 2) $500 handshakes, 3) Cockgirls Hostess programs, 4) Illegal practices, 5) Untreated injury, 6) Dangerous moped actions, 7) The Reefer.  God forbid Spurrier get too mad about stuff.
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